scholarly journals Households or Hotspots? Defining Intervention Targets for Malaria Elimination in Ratanakiri Province, Eastern Cambodia

2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (6) ◽  
pp. 1034-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Bannister-Tyrrell ◽  
Meryam Krit ◽  
Vincent Sluydts ◽  
Sochantha Tho ◽  
Mao Sokny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malaria Elimination ◽  
Malaria Risk ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
First Year ◽  
Plasmodium Infection ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Crude Prevalence

Abstract Background Malaria “hotspots” have been proposed as potential intervention units for targeted malaria elimination. Little is known about hotspot formation and stability in settings outside sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Clustering of Plasmodium infections at the household and hotspot level was assessed over 2 years in 3 villages in eastern Cambodia. Social and spatial autocorrelation statistics were calculated to assess clustering of malaria risk, and logistic regression was used to assess the effect of living in a malaria hotspot compared to living in a malaria-positive household in the first year of the study on risk of malaria infection in the second year. Results The crude prevalence of Plasmodium infection was 8.4% in 2016 and 3.6% in 2017. Living in a hotspot in 2016 did not predict Plasmodium risk at the individual or household level in 2017 overall, but living in a Plasmodium-positive household in 2016 strongly predicted living in a Plasmodium-positive household in 2017 (Risk Ratio, 5.00 [95% confidence interval, 2.09–11.96], P < .0001). There was no consistent evidence that malaria risk clustered in groups of socially connected individuals from different households. Conclusions Malaria risk clustered more clearly in households than in hotspots over 2 years. Household-based strategies should be prioritized in malaria elimination programs in this region.

Men’s Economic Status and Marriage Timing in Rural and Semi-Urban Malawi

Social Forces ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Pike
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Marriage Timing ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual

Abstract In recent decades, qualitative research from across sub-Saharan Africa has shown how young men are often unable to marry because they lack wealth and a stable livelihood. With survey data, researchers have begun to study how men’s economic circumstances are related to when they marry in the continent’s capitals and larger urban centers. However, our understanding of these dynamics outside of large cities remains limited. Drawing on longitudinal survey data, this paper examines how men’s economic standing, both at the individual and household level, relates to their marriage timing in rural and semi-urban communities in the Salima district of Malawi. The findings show that men who have higher earnings, work in agriculture, and come from a household that sold cash crops were more likely to marry. In contrast, students as well as men from households owning a large amount of land were substantially less likely to marry. Additionally, men living in the semi-urban communities were around half as likely to marry as their rural counterparts. This negative association is largely explained by the greater proportion of men who are students in towns and trading centers and also the relatively less agricultural nature of these communities. These findings show the value of considering both individual and family characteristics in studies of marriage timing and also suggest that as sub-Saharan Africa urbanizes, the age of marriage for men will likely rise.

scholarly journals The Bi-Directional Relationship Between Childhood Malnutrition and HIV/AIDS

2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Ejiroghene Ajari ◽  
Boluwatife Adeleye Adewale
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Opportunistic Infections ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Childhood Malnutrition ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Hiv Antiretroviral Therapy ◽  
Hiv Aids

: Childhood malnutrition, a disorder broadly classified into overnutrition and undernutrition, is highly prevalent globally, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. Several studies have highlighted the bidirectional relationship between this disorder and HIV/AIDS, another disease with a high global prevalence. This relationship is quite complex. Links have been established between the disease entities on the individual, family and household level. Opportunistic infections and diseases associated with HIV, antiretroviral therapy and its adverse effects have also been implicated in this relationship. The key implicated variables includes frequency of disease occurrence, morbidity and mortality rate, and disease transmission rate. This paper reviews existing literatures on the subject matter, identifies key knowledge gaps, and recommends the need for further study of this complex relationship in order to close the gaps and inform decisions in healthcare.

scholarly journals Nitrogen Fixation and Nutritional Yield of Cowpea-Amaranth Intercrop

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 565
Author(s):  
Buhlebelive Mndzebele ◽  
Bhekumthetho Ncube ◽  
Melvin Nyathi ◽  
Sheku Alfred Kanu ◽  
Melake Fessehazion ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiency ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
First Year ◽  
Iron And Zinc ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Phosphorus And Potassium

Nutrient-poor soils coupled with micronutrient deficiency among many rural resource-poor communities remain a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Nutrient-poor soils can be managed through various soil amendment or fertilisation strategies. Micronutrients can be supplied through plants. The study was aimed at determining the symbiotic nitrogen fixation of cowpea as well as the contribution of inter-cropping under varying levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilisation. In addition, the amount of micronutrients supplied by cowpea and amaranth were determined. The experiment was laid out in a 2 × 4 factorial treatment structure in a completely randomised design, with inter-cropping (cowpea and amaranth) and fertiliser (control, 25%, 50%, and 100% of the recommended NPK levels) as treatment factors with four replications. Symbiotic N2 fixation of cowpea decreased from 341–448 kgN.ha−1 to 77–91 kgN.ha−1 for the first year and 557–227 kgN.ha−1 to 92−164 kgN.ha−1 for the second year with fertilisation. The iron and zinc nutritional yield increased (61–210 g.ha−1 for first year and 304–867 g.ha−1, for second year), proportional to fertiliser application to both crops. The research shows the benefits of leguminous crops in soil nutrient fertility and inorganic fertilisation with inter-cropping in managing micronutrient deficiency to meet the nutritional needs of rural communities.

scholarly journals Refugees, Identity, and the Limits to Inclusion: Revisiting Landlord-Stranger Reciprocity Relations in Contemporary Liberia

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 640-659
Author(s):  
Maarten Bedert
Keyword(s):  
Life Stories ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Individual Life ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
Reciprocity Relations ◽  
Local Patterns ◽  
Local Integration ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual

Abstract:Refugees in sub-Saharan Africa residing among host communities experience the need to articulate belonging in order to generate a greater sense of security. Based on the individual life stories of Ivorian refugees in Northeastern Liberia in 2011, Bedert finds that local patterns of integration between landlords and strangers are foregone by the bureaucratic identity of refugees as imposed by the international community. In addition, local integration is not self-evident, as it entails a degree of reciprocity and mutual recognition. In the eyes of landlords, strangers are evaluated based on what they can bring to the table.

scholarly journals Comparing measures of urban food security in Accra, Ghana

Food Security ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cascade Tuholske ◽  
Kwaw Andam ◽  
Jordan Blekking ◽  
Tom Evans ◽  
Kelly Caylor
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Poor Correlation ◽  
Household Food Insecurity ◽  
Urban Food Security ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Household Food ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Food Insecurity Access

AbstractThe urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to expand by nearly 800 million people in the next 30 years. How this rapid urban transition is affecting household-level urban food security, and reverberating into broader food systems, is poorly understood. To fill this gap, we use data from a 2017 survey (n = 668) of low- and middle-income residents of Accra, Ghana, to characterize and compare the predictors of household-level food security using three established metrics: the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS); the Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence (HFIAP); and the Food Consumption Score (FCS). According to HFIAP, 70% of sampled households are food insecure, but only 2% fall below acceptable thresholds measured by FCS. Only one household reported sourcing food from modern supermarkets and fewer than 3% produce food for consumption through gardening, farming, or fishing. Instead, households rely on purchased food from traditional markets, local stalls and kiosks, and street hawkers. Results from a suite of general linear models show that household assets, education, and demographic characteristics are significantly associated with food security outcomes according to HFIAS and HFIAP. The poor correlation and weak model agreement between dietary recall such as FCS, and experience-based food security metrics, like HFIAS and HFIAP, highlight limitations of employing historically rural-centric food security measurement approaches within the urban context. Given that Sub-Saharan Africa’s future is urban, our results add empirical evidence in support of the growing chorus of scholars advocating for comprehensive urban-oriented food security research and policy agendas across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Politics of Pentecostalism in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. McCauley
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Spiritual Warfare ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Pentecostal Movement ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Good And Evil ◽  
The Church ◽  
Big Men

Charismatic Pentecostalism constitutes perhaps the most important contemporary movement in sub-Saharan Africa, combining extremely rapid growth with an informal political presence. The movement has expanded in Africa by bringing traditional spirituality into a modern setting, offering social and economic hope to both the upwardly mobile and the destitute. Despite having minority status, its messages of pending prosperity and spiritual warfare, and its astute exploitation of mass media, have positioned the Charismatic Pentecostal movement to exert important if informal influence on politics in the region. It is reshaping the channels through which resources flow from Big Men to their followers; it is implicating new and different international actors; and it is allowing followers to live fully within the church through the provision of social services. Perhaps most importantly, the movement has introduced language of national identity—of good and evil, and Christian nations—that captivates just as it divides. Its potential to influence the formal politics of institutions and parties is limited by the absence of organizational hierarchy and a central focus on remaking the individual rather than addressing social injustices. Nevertheless, by informal means, the movement has “Pentecostalized” politics in many African countries.

scholarly journals Brain growth and neurodevelopment after surgical treatment of infant post-infectious hydrocephalus in sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Schiff ◽  
Abhaya V. Kulkarni ◽  
Edith Mbabazi Kabachelor ◽  
John Mugamba ◽  
Peter Ssenyonga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surgical Treatment ◽  
Brain Volume ◽  
Cognitive Outcome ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Brain Growth ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Median Change ◽  
Post Infectious

ABSTRACTImportancePost-infectious hydrocephalus in infants is a major public health burden in sub-Saharan Africa.ObjectiveTo determine long-term brain growth and cognitive outcome after surgical treatment of infant post-infectious hydrocephalus in Uganda.DesignProspective follow-up of a previously randomized cohort.SettingSingle center in Mbale, Uganda.ParticipantsInfants (<180 days old) with post-infectious hydrocephalus.InterventionsEndoscopic or shunt surgery.Main outcomesBayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-3) and brain volume on computed tomography (raw and normalized for age and sex) at 2 years after treatment.ResultsEighty-nine infants were assessed for 2-year outcome. There were no significant differences between the two surgical treatment arms, so they were analyzed together. Raw brain volumes increased between baseline and 24 months (median change=361 cc, IQR=293 to 443, p<0.001), but almost all of this increase was seen in the first year (median change=381 cc, IQR=310 to 442, p<0.001), with very little change between 12 and 24 months (median change=-5 cc, IQR=-52 to 42, p=0.66). The fraction of those with a normal brain volume increased from 15% at baseline to 50% at 1 year, but then declined to 18% at 2 years. Substantial normalized brain volume loss was seen in 21% between baseline and year 2 and in 77% between years 1 and 2. The extent of brain growth in the first year was not associated with extent of brain volume changes in the second year. There were significant positive correlations between 2-year brain volume and all BSID-3 scores and BSID-3 changes from baseline.Conclusions and RelevanceIn sub-Saharan Africa, even after successful surgical treatment of infant post-infectious hydrocephalus, post-treatment brain growth stagnates in the second year. While the reasons for this are unclear, this emphasizes the importance of primary infection prevention strategies along with optimizing the child’s environment to maximize brain growth potential.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01936272KEY POINTSQuestionWhat is the brain growth and cognitive trajectory of infants treated for post-infectious hydrocephalus in Uganda?FindingsIn this prospective follow-up of a cohort of 89 infants, early normalization of brain volume after treatment was followed by brain growth stagnation in the second year, with many falling back into the sub-normal range. Poor brain growth was associated with poor cognitive outcome.MeaningSuccessful surgical treatment of hydrocephalus is not sufficient to allow for adequate brain growth and cognitive development. Interventions aimed at primary infection prevention and reducing comorbidities are needed to improve brain growth potential.

scholarly journals How education mitigates the realisation of fertility intentions: Is sub-Saharan Africa different?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Channon ◽  
SARAH HARPER
Keyword(s):  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Fertility Transition ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Fertility Intentions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual

The gap between achieved fertility and fertility ideals is notably higher in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than elsewhere, relating to both under- and overachievement of fertility ideals. We consider the extent to which the relationship between fertility ideals and achieved fertility is mitigated by educational achievement. Further, we consider if the effect of education acts differently in SSA, and thereby hypothesise how increasing levels of education in SSA may decrease fertility.We use 227 Demographic and Health Surveys from 57 countries worldwide to look at population- and individual-level measures of achieving fertility ideals. Population level measures are used to assess whether the correspondence between fertility intentions and achievements differ by level of education. We then look at the individual-level determinants of both under- and overachieving fertility intentions. An average of 40% of women in SSA underachieve their stated fertility intentions compared to 26% in non-SSA countries. Furthermore, the educational gradient of underachievement is different in SSA where higher levels of education are not related to better correspondence between fertility intentions and achievements. We argue that the phenomenon of underachieving fertility ideals (or unrealized fertility) may be of particular importance for the ongoing fertility transition throughout SSA, especially for highly educated groups.

scholarly journals Agriculture, Diversification, and Gender in Rural Africa

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Rural Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Village Level Studies

This book contributes to the understanding of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa through addressing the dynamics of intensification and diversification within and outside agriculture, in contexts where women have much poorer access to agrarian resources than men. It uses a longitudinal cross-country comparative approach, relying on the Afrint dataset—unique household-level longitudinal data for six African countries collected over the period 2002–2013/15. The book first descriptively summarizes findings from the third wave of the dataset. The book nuances the current dominance of structural transformation narratives of agricultural change by adding insights from gender and village-level studies of agrarian change. It argues that placing agrarian change within broader livelihood dynamics outside agriculture, highlighting country- and region-specific contexts is an important analytical adaptation to the empirical realities of rural Africa. From the policy perspective, this book provides suggestions for more inclusive rural development policies, outlining the weaknesses of present policies illustrated by the currently gendered inequalities in access to agrarian resources. The book also provides country-specific insights from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

scholarly journals Increasing Trends of Legacy and Emerging Organic Contaminants in a Dated Sediment Core From East-Africa

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Nipen ◽  
Rolf David Vogt ◽  
Pernilla Bohlin-Nizzetto ◽  
Katrine Borgå ◽  
Eliezer Brown Mwakalapa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Core ◽  
Organic Contaminants ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Flame Retardants ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Individual Compound ◽  
Emerging Organic Contaminants ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual

Temporal trends of industrial organic contaminants can show how environmental burdens respond to changes in production, regulation, and other anthropogenic and environmental factors. Numerous studies have documented such trends from the Northern Hemisphere, while there is very limited data in the literature from sub-Saharan Africa. We hypothesized that the temporal trends of legacy and contemporary industrial contaminants in sub-Saharan Africa could greatly differ from the regions in which many of these chemicals were initially produced and more extensively used. For this purpose, a dated sediment core covering six decades from a floodplain system in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was analysed. The samples were analysed for selected legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) [polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs)] and chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) [alternative brominated flame retardants (aBFRs), chlorinated paraffins (CPs), and dechloranes]. All groups of chemicals showed a steep increase in concentrations towards the uppermost sediment layers reflecting the more recent years. Concentrations of the individual compound groups in surface sediment were found in the order CPs &gt;&gt; aBFRs ∼ ∑25PBDEs &gt; dechloranes ∼ ∑32PCBs. Time trends for the individual compounds and compound groups differed, with ∑32PCBs showing presence in sediments since at least the early 1960s, while some CECs first occurred in sediments corresponding to the last decade. Investigations into potential drivers for the observed trends showed that socioeconomic factors related to growth in population, economy, and waste generation have contributed to increasing concentrations of PBDEs, aBFRs, CPs, and Dechlorane Plus. Further monitoring of temporal trends of industrial organic contaminants in urban areas in the Global South is recommended.

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